This invention relates generally to an interior component used in an automotive vehicle and specifically to an interior lamp assembly suitable for attachment to a modular headliner assembly.
Traditionally, an interior dome lamp or a reading/courtesy lamp has a lens which is surrounded by an appearance bezel, a housing which protects a bulb, a bulb terminal or socket, an electrical connector and a vehicle fastening device. These conventional lamp assemblies are usually attached to a roof bow which extends transversely below the roof of the automotive vehicle. During manufacture of the vehicle, the lamp assembly, without the lens, is positioned overhead in the vehicle which is moving along an assembly line and an installer drives a screw through the housing and into the adjacent roof bow. The installer then connects a vehicle wire harness to the lamp electrical connector and snaps on the lens.
Alternatively, a lens can be snapped directly to the headliner panel rather than to a lamp housing if the headliner substrate has significant rigidity or has a local metallic reinforcement. While this lens attachment method may be suitable for the initial installation, the headliner substrate usually tends to deteriorate upon repeated lens removal for bulb servicing and replacement.
The automotive market has become increasingly competitive such that components used within automotive vehicles are required to be of lower cost and higher quality. Lower cost, higher quality components can be obtained by utilizing modular interior trim systems. Modular systems reduce assembly labor and integrate parts by having one part serve multiple functions. A modular system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,068 entitled "Modular Headliner Assembly," issued to Dowd et al. on Feb. 20, 1990. In the Dowd et al. patent a headliner substrate is sandwiched between a retainer and an appearance lamp bezel. Another lamp assembly is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,867 entitled "Console Mounted to a Headliner," issued to Hilborn et al. on Jan. 16, 1990. In the Hilborn et al. patent a supplemental fastener is used to attach a lamp assembly to a vehicle roof bow or to a front header panel due to the compliant nature of the fiberglass substrate on which it is mounted. Both of these patents have a common assignee with the present invention and the disclosures of both patents are specifically incorporated by reference herein.
While the lamp assemblies for use with modular headliners illustrate improvements in the art over the traditional assembly line screw-in lamps, these modular lamp assemblies still require redundant retainers and additional fasteners for attachment to the vehicle roof bows.